BUNGLING thieves clambered onto the roof of a disused Halesowen care home to steal copper but could not get down again.

The five men used a ladder to get onto the roof at Shenstone House and then discovered it was too small to get them back onto the ground.

They finally had to be rescued by the fire brigade after a police helicopter called out to assist other officers spotted them all “peering over the edge of the roof.”

Gurdeep Garcha, for the men, told Wolverhampton Crown Court: “What they did was very stupid, this was ill-judged, not well planned and extremely amateurish. They were caught red-handed.”

He said the men had no way of returning to the ground and far less idea of how to bring down the copper they had stripped from the roof Before finding themselves well and truly stuck the gang caused over £19,000 damage to the property which was owned by Dudley Council.

Judge Michael Challinor told them the harm they had caused was “considerable” having gone to the property which was in the process of being sold with gloves and tools to cut away the copper.

He added: “You then found you couldn’t get down and considerable police resources had to be used and the Fire Brigade had to rescue you.”

Howard Searle, prosecuting, said a witness living near to the former home heard banging noises and quickly alerted the police.

When officers later searched the scene they found part of the roof had been “rolled back like a carpet” while another pile of metal was found nearby.

Gianni Desalerno, Elliott Field, Jack Hudson, Paul O’Connor and Joseph Steward all admitted attempting to steal copper from the building.

Desalerno 25 of Meon Grove, Sheldon: Hudson 24 of Spearnall Grove, Selly Oak and 22 year old Stewart of Nigel Avenue, Northfield were all given nine-month jail terms suspended for 18 months They were each further ordered by the judge to pay £2,000 compensation to Dudley Council for the damage and £500 towards the costs of the prosecution.

Field 18 of Bentley Grove, Weoley Castle, was given the same sentence and further placed on Supervision for a year.

O’Connor 25 also of Bentley Grove - he had a previous conviction for metal theft - was given a 12-month jail term suspended for 18 months with £2,000 compensation and £500 costs.